Hurricane Sandy has been a disaster for residents of the Eastern Seaboard and the Caribbean. It concentrated the attention of millions Internet users on the same topic of news.
Facebook, twitter, and online news provide minute information about the disaster. Many organizations - both government and non-governmental, private, search to reach people who need help. Playing on sentiments of solidarity, online criminals search to take advantages of people generosity and send fake news stories along with malware attached.
Analysis:
After a real happening disaster, it is the best time for hackers to do social engineering attacks. The hackers manipulate with solidarity sentiments of people who want to assist victims of national disaster. Pretending to be from real charity organizations, like Red Cross online criminals solicit donations or just search to still the identity and credit-card information. All starts from activation a short link that refers to news from disaster. The link installs automatically additional software in the computer and infect it with viruses, spyware, or trojan horses.
Starting from infecting the browser, theft of identity data and finishing with loss of money.
Users should pay attention of phishing attempts that lead victims to illegitimate sites, designed to look like charities. They have to double check the legitimacy of the site they are clicking on from your email, twitter, or elsewhere. In addition, management should train employees how to respond to any disruptive occurrences that could appear after the fact. Scammers could email individuals at work or at home to encourage them to donate.Whenever you receive them, don't click on links in charity email. This can lead you to fake donation sites that will steal your identity and credit card information. When making a donation check with the Better Business Bureau to ensure you are contributing to a legitimate cause.
Hurricane Sandy has been a disaster for residents of the Eastern Seaboard and the Caribbean. It concentrated the attention of millions Internet users on the same topic of news.
Facebook, twitter, and online news provide minute information about the disaster. Many organizations - both government and non-governmental, private, search to reach people who need help. Playing on sentiments of solidarity, online criminals search to take advantages of people generosity and send fake news stories along with malware attached.
Analysis:
After a real happening disaster, it is the best time for hackers to do social engineering attacks. The hackers manipulate with solidarity sentiments of people who want to assist victims of national disaster. Pretending to be from real charity organizations, like Red Cross online criminals solicit donations or just search to still the identity and credit-card information. All starts from activation a short link that refers to news from disaster. The link installs automatically additional software in the computer and infect it with viruses, spyware, or trojan horses.
Starting from infecting the browser, theft of identity data and finishing with loss of money.
Users should pay attention of phishing attempts that lead victims to illegitimate sites, designed to look like charities. They have to double check the legitimacy of the site they are clicking on from your email, twitter, or elsewhere. In addition, management should train employees how to respond to any disruptive occurrences that could appear after the fact. Scammers could email individuals at work or at home to encourage them to donate.Whenever you receive them, don't click on links in charity email. This can lead you to fake donation sites that will steal your identity and credit card information. When making a donation check with the Better Business Bureau to ensure you are contributing to a legitimate cause.